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This stems from Adam's suggestion that the Thing is more like a starfish than a human.

The argument of whether the legs are more or less like human legs than a starfish's appendages is therefore directly pertinent, isn't it? There is no question of whether he literally looks like a starfish, but a question of which he is closer to: human or starfish.

And quite clearly he is much closer to human than starfish.

Most depictions of the Things  -- including those by Kirby and Buscema -- have his limbs narrowing at the knee and at the elbow. Quite unlike a starfish.

It's definitely been a long period of quarantine when people get into heated matches over whether or not The Thing is shaped like a starfish. LOL!

Matt, this is important!!! Don't deny me!

:)

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A heated match would imply that there’s anyone in this thread as invested as Peter. :D

Adam’s statement is easy to nitpick, but I think most long-term posters know what he was referring to. The starfish thing isn’t literal, so arguing all the ways that Thing isn’t literally a starfish is just... extra. 

Forgive a simple man for interpreting a statement of 'He's shaped more like a starfish than a human' as meaning 'He's shaped more like than a starfish than a human' and for thinking that any attempt to interpret it otherwise is a case of special pleading.

Forgive me if I file the argument that his statement of 'shaped more like a starfish than a human' doesn't actually mean 'shaped more like than a starfish than a human' as a case of outrageous special pleading.

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The shaped like a starfish comes from JB, and he didn't mean it literally. It's a guide to avoid drawing the Thing like a gorilla. I understood what Adam was referring to and so should a lot of long-term posters. If you understood the reference, you could either A) shrug it off because you knew what he meant, or B) lightly corrected him about taking that literally.

Instead, you bust out the starfish pictures and say, "SEE! HE'S NOT A STARFISH! YOU'RE WRONG!"

It's really weird energy. Have a Snickers.

I also don't think anyone can draw a consistent Peter Parker anymore. The "interpret the characters any way you wish" attitude of  many of Marvel artists nowadays takes me out of a lot of stories.

But if you meant "hanging around" or "lurking", it's not quite right. I'm not entirely sure there is a translation besides the English transliteration.